Next Tegra 2 is primed for 3D handhelds

More than a year since the launch of its Tegra 2 system-on-a-chip, Nvidia is readying a successor primed for handheld devices with 3D displays, according to TechEye. The site has posted a screenshot from what it claims to be Nvidia's Mobile World Congress presentation, revealing a few basic details about the upcoming Tegra 2 3D chip.

Apparently, the Tegra 2 3D will pack two ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked as high as 1.2GHz, will enter production in the first quarter of this year, and will be out this spring. The slide calls this chip the "world's first mobile 3D processor." In case you're wondering, the original Tegra 2 also has two Cortex-A9 cores, but they only run at up to 1GHz. TechEye doesn't say if the Tegra 2 3D has any improvements beyond the CPU core clock speeds.

The site does predict that Tegra 2 3D-powered devices will also have Master Image LCD panels that generate 3D images using cell parallax technology—just like Nintendo's 3DS. Here's hoping those devices will have decent battery life. According to a story posted by Joystiq earlier this month, the 3DS will only be able to stay up for three to five hours when running games that take advantage of the 3D screen.